[boviac]

Yeah I know... I've read all about them. But after six years in the hobby, finally had my failure. I suppose I should have know it was coming as the pump was having significant restart problems the past couple of days and I suppose the electrical system troubles haven't helped but Just a few hours ago my daughter actually said "daddy the water - come see the water." I didn't know what she ment as I saw she was still watching Little Mermaid but then the 29 gal tank caught my eye. I saw that the troubled Rio had started to spurt. But in addition to bubbles little black... i dunno... I suppose this is what fire/smoke looks like underwater, black strings from the pump electrical internals.

Whew... boy does this stuff stink. Siphoned the top layer of slime/oil/debris off and pulled the suspect PH out and letting it soak/cool in the bath sink. Turned the light off and have prepared a 25% (~7gal) water change but so far even the xenia is still pulsing. We'll see tomorrow but I think I finally got the smell out of the house or I'm just used to it by now.

So now as someone who was on the fence, I will never buy a rio again. Just my two cents. But if you search the internet, I imagine you can come up with so many two cents out there about these you can afford not to buy them anymore. (or if you do plan to replace them yearly) Ths one is at least three if not more years old.

Further I should add I was using my X10 controllers to cycle this an another small PH (ViaAqua) for 2 hours on/off cycling one on each side. This may have contributed to its demise. And I still have a Rio 50 pumping into my Phosphate Rx and I have a Taam Rio HF20 for my sump return. Both are still working. But for my upgrade to the 125 I plan to use a Reef Dart for the system return, etc and possibly run the phosphate rx off the return pump.